For several months, this was the season every Oakland Raiders fan dreamed of, the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2002, and it featured a cast of young stars that could fit right alongside the greatest ever to wear this uniform.

Yes, as long as the 2016 Raiders were winning games, and the Coliseum was thundering, everything else could be put to the side.

But now? The next thing is almost here, and for at least a few months, almost everything about the Raiders will be focus on the city of Oakland’s last-ditch maneuverings to block the move, the owners analyzing the prospects, and Davis’ attempts to line up enough votes to approve his deal with Las Vegas to build a massive new stadium… by the 2019 season.

Of course, even if the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas is approved within a few months (and who knows if it will be), Davis has said all plans are to play the next two regular seasons at the Coliseum while the prospective Las Vegas stadium is constructed.

So the Raiders aren’t vanishing for Nevada quite yet.

And it’s possible the NFL owners could decide to delay this decision for another year–along with the Chargers’ decision whether to leave San Diego for Los Angeles.

This team should only get better, no doubt.

Five of their league-high seven Pro Bowlers this season are under 28: Amari Cooper is 22, Khalil Mack and Carr are both 25, and Kelechi Osemele and Rodney Hudson are 27.

And if Carr had remained healthy, this Raiders team would’ve had a shot to win this Super Bowl — after winning the Super Bowl following the 1976, 1980 and 1983 seasons, with the last one achieved when they were based in Los Angeles. .

Without Carr, and without Pro Bowl left tackle Donald Penn, it was left up to rookie quarterback Connor Cook and a Raiders defense that struggled all season.

So that was the end of it for now, with many more chances to win it all–and after this rebuild from the depths of last decade or so, Davis, Del Rio and general manager Reggie McKenzie have earned their credentials.

And it’s not that the Raiders had to get to the Super Bowl this season to prove anything — they probably jumped a year ahead of schedule by racing to the 12-4 record only two years after opening the 2014 season with 10 straight losses.

But if Davis gets approval for Las Vegas, the Raiders will play in the Coliseum next season as a Las Vegas team, not Oakland’s, not really.

If they go on a long playoff run next season after an approval, they will be doing it as a Las Vegas team, not fully Oakland’s, any more.

You can blame Mark Davis for that, you can blame the Oakland politicians, you can just blame the reality that there isn’t enough money between the two entities to put together a rational stadium proposal in the East Bay.

You can blame whoever you want, and people have done that for months and years.

But it hasn’t changed the fact that the Raiders want to leave, that their best deal is probably to leave, and that everything next is everything that Oakland fans have wanted to forget or deny, and it’s here now.